1. Field
The present application relates generally to the operation and design of transmitters, and more particularly, to the operation and design of area efficient transmitters.
2. Background
Wireless devices are becoming increasing more complicated and now routinely provide multi-mode and multi-band operation. To support such operation, a typical wireless device may include multiple power amplifiers to amplify signals for each mode/band. For example, a multi-mode multi-band wireless device may be configured for wireless communications using multiple communication technologies, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Classroom 2000 (C2K), and Long Term Evolution (LTE). In a typical implementation, a wireless device may include one amplifier for low band (LB) GSM, one amplifier for LB WCDMA/LTE/C2K, one amplifier for medium band (MB) GSM, and one amplifier for MB WCDMA/LTE/C2K. Unfortunately, this four power amplifier configuration utilizes significant circuit area.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a way to amplify signals in a multi-mode multi-band transmitter that utilizes less circuit area than conventional configurations comprising multiple amplifiers.